Week 6 Friday, Sep 30 2011

In the readings for last week, Schlosser writes about a man named Kenny. Write about someone you know who has suffered parallel misfortunes.

In Fast Food Nation, chapter 8, Schlosser talks about a man named Kenny Dobbins. Kenny began working in the meat packing plant at a young age, and worked there over sixteen years. While working at the meat processing plant, Kenny suffered many injuries and was a commited worker. However, his employers tried to do everything to make him quit. Kenny did not think this and continued to work there although he suffered many injuries.

I have an older cousin back in my hometown of Shreveport that has one eye. Although she is grown, she has the mindset of a young child. Many of my younger cousins are confused and find it strange that she has only eye so they always ask her whats wrong with her eye or tease her whenever she gets on their nerves. My parents taught me to never tease people that are different so I understood her having one eye. A younger child may be scared of her, but my sis and I were not scared of her whenever we first met her as younger kids. She was just like any of my other cousins and kids that I’ve played with. She just wanted to hang with us and have fun with us which was cool with me. My cousin does not let this stop her from doing anything, in fact sometimes I dont think she even realizes that she has one eye. She also has a positive outlook on life compared to some other people.

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Does the author have a political agenda? Thursday, Sep 29 2011

 Eric Schlosser in the book Fast Food Nation touched many topics about the fast food industry from the fact that so many so many fast food restaurants are robbed to the notion that so many people controlling the regulation and interests of fast food restaurants are Republicans. Schlosser further elaborates by mentioning the names of several Republicans and the companies they have stock in or are part owner of. Because these tycoons are so concerned about their revenue, they tend to take the short cuts on purchases. These politcians support cheaper prices when in many cases using cheaper companies to produce food for the fast food restaurants is very unsafe and has proved to be detrimental to many people’s health. Many have died while working in these facilities because of unsafe job practices. And others still have suffered with diseases from bacteria such as E coli due to the simple act of these politicians choosing the companies that are less pricy though in many cases the food turns out in a bad state. Schlosser discusses these crafty and coniving politicans, specifically Republicans, to allow citizens to see the reality of the fast food industry and the fact that many of these politicians only care about profit. Though the author may seem to take a position or a specific side in the subject of political afilliment, he is however not so concerned with a political party as he is with individuals being informed of the corruption in these fast food industry giants and the elected officials that support them. Schlosser’s aim is to open the eyes of those who may otherwise not realize the fact that many of our elected officials are influencing the very quality of the food we eat from McDonald’s, Burger King, Taco Bell and the many other fast food restaurants like them that are unhealthy and morally unjust.

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In the readings for last week, Schlosser writes about a man named Kenny. Write about someone you know who has suffered parallel misfortunes. Thursday, Sep 29 2011

 I do not know anyone like Kenny Dobbins. He was a Monfort employee for almost sixteen years. He had been working there since he was twenty-four. At first he was hauling boxes that were 120 pounds. But he was able to handle it. He also was a six-foot five strong built man. One day Kenny fell against the conveyor belt and it pierced his lower back unfortunately. When he went to the company doctor he was told it was only a pulled muscle. And that was a lie.

For the next few months he was in severe chronic pain. He went to a new doctor and he was told that he had a herniated disk. He had surgery but the pain wasn’t relieved . Sad to say but his marriage broke up and he returned to the slaughterhouse after fourteen months. Monfort tried to get rid of Kenny. They tried to make his work unbearable so he would just quit. Kenny lungs had been burned due to chemicals on the job. Kenny got hit by a train and went to work two weeks later. Kenny later broke his leg on the floor. Kenny had a hearth attack and the company finally fired him. After sixteen years he didn’t receive any pension from them.

Due to his extreme conditions that he went through I never heard of anyone that had parallel misfortune. He went through so much in one life tiem i couldn’t imagine that happening to someone.

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In the readings for last week Schlosser writes about a man named Kenny… Thursday, Sep 29 2011

Schlosser writes about a loyal worker named Kenny. Kenny had a rough life and basically dedicated it to the big meat corporations although they treated him horribly. kenny was lied to by the company doctors and sent back to work while he was still injured. he was being demoted at his job even though he was the one worker who put in the most work. his situation shows how much or how less the companies care about their workers. kenny is now living in a terrible condition and is unable to get any job. he cannot provide for his family and feels useless. i don’t know anyone who has suffered parallel misfortunes like kenny but i know someone who is as loyal as kenny. my aunt is a medical doctor and she has medical problems of her own. she is lucky that she has the ability to take care of herself but she often has seizures and needs the help of someone else. she’s been having seizures her whole life and thinks of it as a part of life. even with her condition she refuses to give up her career. she is too loyal to her patients, especially her cancer patients. even with all the stress of her job she finds it hard to retire. she would rather kill herself than to pass off her patients to another doctor. she has been practicing medicine for a long time so she feels as if she can’t do anything else with her life. she also has body pains and i know that one day the pain will become unbearable just like kenny. however, there is no way to deter her away from her passion. i know when the day comes for her to retire she will feel useless but just like kenny her day of peace will come.

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Week 4 Thursday, Sep 29 2011

In 1906, Upton Sinclair was able to get his book, The Jungle, published after many denies because of its controversial text. The novel opened the eyes of many americans about the harsh and inhumane working conditions of the workers in the meat packing industry. The one american that got its attention was Theordore Roosevelt, the president at the time, who did not believe half of the information that was given in the novel. Although Roosevelt didn’t believe any of what Sinclair published, Sinclair researched the meat packing industry and went undercover to obtain the truths about the meat packing industry. Sinclair’s novel was the talk of the american government and caused them to initiate some rules and regulations for the food industry. They had to prevent all of the horrible accidents and put policies in that will benefit the workers. Even though the policies stopped some of the unfair treatments and accidents, some of these misfortunes still happen today. Workers today are still not getting the workers compensation that they should be getting and are still getting seriously injured. Schlosser’s book Fast Food Nation explains various examples of how the fast food industry cheats their workers and their suppliers, but his book did not have the same impact Sinclair’s novel did. Whether it is because most people in 20th century did not believe people could let this happen to other humans or that today’s government has a lot of ties with the fast food industry that not much will get changed, but Sinclair’s novel was just more impactful. Although Schlosser proves good points and describes horrible situations his novel will just not catch the attention of the media or the government. It could also be that more people read books during that time cause there was less technology, but both books contributed to the knowledge of the fast food industry.

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Week 6 Thursday, Sep 29 2011

In Fast Food Nation, Schlosser informs us about a loyal worker by the name of Kenny Dobbins who was treated horribly. Dobbins worked for a slaughterhouse in Nebraska by the name of Monfort. Kenny would take jobs that most of his co-workers would not take. For example, he dealt with harmful chlorine chemicals and lifted very heavy boxes. Throughout  his tenure at Monfort Dobbins suffered many serious injuries. For example, he suffered a serious heart attack, broken leg, and exposure to harmful chemicals that were not treated or diagnosed correctly. He was constantly referred to nurses that did not have his best interest and his company’s health insurance wash’ t able to cover his injuries. Even though he had these misfortunes, he kept going back to work, but eventually it didn’t turn out for the best. Today Kenny is unemployed and his health is declining. He is unable to provide for his wife and two kids and his situation isn’t getting better. He is still receiving some social security checks but the checks aren’t getting the whole job done. Kenny thought that for being a loyal and obedient worker that the company would help out and be more considerate to his situation. From experience I do not know anybody that went through Kenny’s situation of not getting good medical care and insurance, but I know my uncle was injured in an accident when driving his company car. The accident wasn’t his fault, but he suffered a broken jaw and a broken leg in the accident. I’m not sure of all of the insurance and medical compensation from his employers but I know he was able to receive medical care and get surgery for his jaw and leg. His accident was a very serious one, and our family is thankful that it wasn’t any worse than what it was.

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Week #5 Wednesday, Sep 28 2011

In my high school my favorite subject was US History. History was my favorite class because I was always interested in learning about the past events that occurred in history. My history teacher in high school taught me for 3 years and every year I began to like history more. My teacher taught in a way that openly engaged every student and always interested teens in becoming more intrigued about history. Here at Xavier I thought that my favoritism for history would carry over but it hasn’t. I don’t blame this on my teacher because the course is taught well, however I just don’t have a favorite subject anymore. After attending all my classes for generally the same amount of time, I haven’t fallen in love with any particular subject. At one point I thought that because I am in college that my favorite class will be one paired with my major. My major is psychology Pre-Med. Currently taking the psychology class it has not become my favorite. Taking psychology now, I don’t really like it. The class makes me want to switch my major to Biology Pre-med.

I can’t blame my teachers for not teaching properly because most them teach well.  I can contribute the fact that i don’t have a favorite subject or class to the fact that I don’t like any subject that much. I figured that in coming to college that I would not fall into like with any particular subject because through out my stay at Xavier I want to keep all my options open because it could contribute to my future career.

However I am beginning to like my seminar class. It is was one of the least stressful classes that I take. It is also a paper free class. Im pretty sure that every freshman can agree that Freshman Seminar is one their highly favored classes.

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Week #2 Wednesday, Sep 28 2011

In Schlosser’s reading he describes a employee that most fast food chains look to employ. They look for employees that fit the mold of their company or can be molded to fit. Most company’s tend to hire teenagers. Companies tend to hire teenagers because they view them as model employee. When they are hired this is usually there first job. Teenagers are willing to work through certain conditions where as a adults would not. Teenagers are also willing to work long hours for minimum wage or below minimum wage. Companies also hire immigrants. Immigrants are an ideal employee for any franchise. They are the ideal employee for any franchise because they are also, like teen, willing to work long hours for less and are willing to work through any conditions. Immigrants and teens are ideal employee’s because they are less likely to form unions and challenge the ideas of the company. Teen’s in a work force generally do not challenge the ideas of authority because its usually like challenging a parents authority. Immigrants do not cause many problems in a work force because they do not speak English. Immigrants do not understand English there fore they usually do not have any idea of what the employer is speaking about unless it directly correlates to work. This applies to Xavier’s goal of preparing students for leadership because we are the teenagers who are willing to work in Xavier’s work force. Xavier attains students as freshman and starting from the first day of classes Xavier begins to mold students. At Xavier we have a liberal arts curriculum. Through out our duration at Xavier students engage in certain programs and are exposed to certain opportunities. When we finally obtain our degree’s in our desired fields we will be prepared to obtain roles of leadership. 

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What factors have hurt small family farmers and benefited giant corporate farms? Wednesday, Sep 28 2011

One of the negative factors that have affected small family farmers is that they aren’t paid correctly for the amount of potatoes they give to big processing companies. For example, Potato growers are being run out by the processors of the “french fry.” When fast food restaurants sell fries to the consumers, the processors are paid all the money for every order of fries, while the growers will only receive a small percentage from that sell. If the small family farmers want to survive they have to become bigger and better than all the other companies and process potatoes for themselves which would probably cause them to go into debt because that’s not something that they can afford. I believe that the big companies will also begin to lose profit because if the farmer don’t have the money to grow any potatoes then they won’t be able to sell any, so how would any one gain profit? The large processing companies will then begin to get cheap poor quality potatoes that will hinder consumption and begin to kill the potato business. Another thing that harms potato farmers is that the people who run processing plants have no knowledge of potatoes, unlike the spud mogul JR Simplot, they wont be able to know what’s right for consumers or processing plants. Schlosser quotes a Multon in saying that “companies are now run by men with ‘MBA’s from Harvard who don’t know if a potato grows in a tree or underground’”. I believe that if farm workers band together and become a union of some kind they will be able to achieve better profits and not get undermined by big time growers

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Question Three Monday, Sep 26 2011

In the book Fast Food Nation Schlosser talks about farmers, the good and the bad things that happen to them and their families. He says that farmers have one of the biggest jobs in the country, but others easily mistreat them. Farmers partner up with companies to sell their product that they produce, but they aren’t always reasonable. These companies give the farmers no say on what they can do with their animals. They give them orders on how they should be fed and what should be done to the animals. If they don’t like the treatment given to them by these companies and feel the need to address the situation, the farmers may end up out of a business. The farmers are often asked to update their equipment, but they can’t because of the low-grade management they receive. Along with being mistreated, they become stressed. When the farmers lose their jobs because of the economy and their bosses, they tend to stop their work and not only damage their families but them selves as well. One example in the book is the farmer by the name of Hank. He was struggling because of the loss of his ranch each year and there wasn’t much he could do about it. With the worry of trying to maintain a lifestyle with all his issues of his land loss, eventually he took his own life. This example is a great explanation as to what we should learn from. Big companies everyday try to consume everything that an average person works hard to obtain and we cannot let them continue to benefit off of that.

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